KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii -- It's hard to realize but Terenzo Bozzone, the New Zealand prodigy who blasted the course record at Wildflower to smithereens four years ago at the tender age of 21, and who took the Ironman 70.3 World title last year, still has a decade or two left to fulfill his early promise.

Because of the volatile combination of his youth and his great talent, Bozzone has had a rollercoaster of ups and downs, vulnerable to his passions. And so some cynical observers wondered when Bozzone was reported to be training a lot with Chris McCormack in Kona this past month. Would Macca, a wily veteran who stated that this was a favorite tactic, try to get inside the had of this prodigious prodigy? Would Macca psyche out Bozzone before the young champion take his first stroke in Kailua Bay on Saturday?

Bozzone fended off casual insult by an arrogant veteran after his debut at Wildflower at age 20 quite well thank you. Bozzone's answer was to train his brains out and smash the hallowed record by the legend by six minutes. So a few hits out with Macca would hardly daunt the dashing young Kiwi.

"I had good training with Macca," said Bozzone. "IO don't think he feels I am a threat here. Besides I am smart enough. I comer to this race and I won't let anyone psyche me out. If I smell the victory, I'm going to take it. I'm going to kill for that line."

Bozzone remains very fond of McCormack and won't listen to any hint of perfidy directed to the Australian. "He's a great guy," said Bozzone. "I learned a lot from him. If I helped him in any way, great. I don’t feel in any way abused by hanging out with him."

While Bozzone says he has built a base that should bring him to the finish at full speed, he admits his body hasn’t developed the full capacity for endurance. "I think I am still quite young," said Bozzone. "I am still just 2/3 of the age of the top guys here. And I don't think I am ready to win this race yet."

Bozzone realizes the place that Kona has in the sport. "Last year I came out and watched the race from a spotter vehicle. Now I've come to watch the race from within the race. Maybe in the near future I'll be watching the race from the front of the race. So we'll see."

It took Bozzone a few years to figure out the secret to the Ironman 70.3 World Championships, where he started fast and faded at the end, despite the credentials he earned at Wildflower. "Exactly," said Bozzone. "World Championships exert a huge pressure on you. So the faster I can learn here in Kona, the better. I see myself having a 10-12 year career here . And this year will somewhat decide if this race is for me."

Placing high at Ironman New Zealand and 7th at Frankfurt revealed that Bozzone was close to having enough base to hang with the leaders at Kona. "Earlier this year I was doing three hour runs," he said. "I'm a big mileage guy. I like training hard. I like training long. I think I've done the mileage. During this training,. I have had moments of exhaustion and frustration. I think it is a matter of maturity and getting stronger."